Patti Burris

Philippians 2:14,15

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”

As a mom of 5 kids, I hear whining, complaining and grumbling on a daily basis. Admittedly, it isn’t always from the kids! Too often, I hear myself complaining because the kids haven’t cleaned their rooms or done something I had asked them to do, complaining because my work day isn’t going as smoothly as I would like, or whining because I’ve been inconvenienced in some way. I don’t like to hear it from my kids and I really don’t like to hear it from myself.

Paul tells us that in order to become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation” we must do EVERYTHING without grumbling or arguing. I know it seems like an impossible task, but remember that Paul was writing these words from prison and Paul was a man that practiced what he preached. If Paul had the ability to rejoice even while in prison, without complaining and whining about his circumstances, then we can be assured that when we abide in God, we have that same ability to rejoice in our circumstances, without complaining that our car broke down, our phone died, or our significant other has left us with a baby to take care of. I’m not saying that these aren’t things to complain about, but honestly, is complaining going to change the situation? No, it isn’t. Complaining only hardens our hearts against the love of God and others who may want to help us. God loves us and wants to help us in the tough times, but we have to guard our hearts against the sin of grumbling and arguing and be willing to give our circumstances to God and let Him deal with the situation.

Life is full of things to complain and argue about. I am challenging you to take the following steps the next time you feel a whine coming on:

1. Mentally, draw a circle around yourself and imagine that you have entered the No Whine Zone or the No Argument Zone (this does not mean that you have to let people walk all over you or verbally attack you, you are just making the decision not to engage in the argument. To deflate the situation, you may say something like, “I feel we are both to angry to discuss this right now, why don’t we take some time to think about this and then we can get together and see if we can come up with a solution that we can both live with,” and if necessary, just walk away.)

2. Immediately, give the situation to God. Say a prayer of surrender and allow God to take control of the situation.

3. Replace any complaints with praise for the good things in our lives. (Even in our darkest hour, we can find the blessings of God.)

4. If our complaint involves a person, pray for that person. Get to know that person and see whats going on in their lives that may cause them to be the way they are. Cultivate a heart of compassion toward that person and show them the love they deserve as a child of God.

5. Always be on the lookout for a whiny spirit. Nip it as soon as it rears it’s destructive head.

Remember that before Paul became an apostle of God, he murdered Christians. If Paul was able to completely turn his life around to the point of rejoicing in prison, we can too. God wants us to be pure before Him and He is here to show us the way. Be content in ALL things without whining about our circumstances. If Paul did it, so can you!